"Contemporary Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad became a legend in her own time for her innovative and controversial writings. In this extensive, three-part documentary, Farrokhzad's life, work, and soul are laid bare. Director Nasser Saffarian deftly combines interviews with family members and peers with footage of Farrokhzad shot by Bernardo Bertolucci. Saffarian digs deep into her personal and professional life to uncover new information about this outspoken artist. Includes The Green Cold, a revealing look at her private world, The Mirror of the Soul, an exploration of her controversial, sometimes erotic poetry, and Summit of the Wave, an overview of her theater and film work, especially her powerful documentary The House Is Black."

Interesting, ambitious, bold... it could be said that these docs in some ways resemble the celebrated and controversial personality of Farrokhzad. Thankfully, the brain trust at Facets packaged them together on a single DVD instead of releasing them separately as was the case with Farocki's highly intertextual featurettes.

Warners' 5-disc box set titled Film Noir Classic Collection: Vol 4 comes out on July 31st.

Actually a little weak with this set, with one exception. They Live By Night is finally getting a DVD release. Kinda sucks they're making it a double feature when it deserves a royal treatment all its own. I'd consider They Live By Night one of the greatest American films ever, and Nicholas Ray's finest hour. Not sure how much of a film noir it is, but at least its being released on DVD.

Three amusing horror flicks feature on CULT CAMP CLASSICS VOLUME FOUR. The theme for this volume is "Historical Epics," and the feature films included are COLOSSUS OF RHODES, LAND OF THE PHARAOHS, and THE PRODIGAL. Please see individual titles for synopsis information.

The first three sets are largely worthless. But this set features the rare Colossus of Rhodes (one of Sergio Leone's earliest films), and Howard Hawks' very rarely seen Land of the Pharaohs. Hawks' film is also sold separately.

It's worth repeating that David Lynch's Inland Empire arrives on DVD tomorrow. The 2-disc set contains loads of extra features:

90 minutes of Deleted Scenes
Includes the short film "Ballerina"
Lynch 2 (behind the scenes of Inland Empire with David Lynch)
Talks with David Lynch and Laura Dern
More Things That Happened (Additional Character Experiences)
Theatrical Trailers (3)
Stills Gallery (73 Photos)
David Lynch cooks Quinoa

Also worth mentioning is Kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet is also joined the two disc special edition club. The film has not (to my knowledge) ever been released on DVD here in the US and the VHS circulating is "formatted to fit this screen". For these two simple rules I have never seen it, but this shall soon enough change.

Disc 2: Extra Features
Guardian interview at the NFT with David Lynch (17:23mins)
A Short Interview in London (6:02mins)
A Conversation with David Lynch by Mike Figgis (19:02mins)
A Masterclass with David Lynch (26:14mins)
Interview at the Cartier Foundation (14:59mins)

The U.S. release looks far superior in my opinion, especially David Lynch cooks Quinoa . I think it would definitely be worth importing rather than buying the rather staid sounding U.K. release. A three disc release containing both sets of extras would be good though.